ANNA CHRISTOPHER – WRITER / DIRECTOR
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Anna Christopher was born in Hinsdale, Illinois in 1980.
While attending Northwestern University, Anna directed multiple short films, joined a sorority and remained tattoo-free.
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Before graduating cum laude with a Radio/TV/Film degree, she wrote and directed SOCK IT TO ME, a short comedy that screened at the Chicago International Film Festival and opening night of the Women in the Director’s Chair festival, and HOW DOES IT FEEL, a noir-styled music video that garnered a student Emmy and a place at Cannes as a Kodak Emerging Filmmaker Film.
Both her photography work and filmmaking achievements received multiple honors at Northwestern, and her time studying abroad earned her an honorary Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from the University of Melbourne.
After graduating, Anna traveled through much of the United States on an extended road trip. She landed in Boston where she was a dog walker before accepting a spot in the American Film Institute’s MFA directing program. She joined 27 other filmmakers in the program and found only 5 other women directors.
While at AFI, Anna wrote two features and helmed four short films, including her 35mm thesis QUEEN OF CACTUS COVE.
BRENDA WEIERMAIR, PRODUCER
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Brenda earned her Bachelors degree in Commerce and later graduated Summa Cum Laude with an MBA in Finance. She comes from a background of theater and dance, performing as a professional ballet dancer then later founding a small theater company. Before entering the AFI Conservatory she held a Business Director position with Universal Home Video, where she oversaw a team responsible for analyzing the successes and failures of films in the domestic market.
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While a Producing Fellow at AFI, she produced four short films, the last of which was Queen of Cactus Cove, her 35mm thesis film. Queen of Cactus Cove premiered at the Los Angeles Int’l Children’s Film Festival in December 2005 and won Best Live-Action Short. The film has since received invitations to the San Diego Int’l Children’s Film Festival and the Cinequest Film Festival’s Online Viewers’ Voice Competition. Additionally, the film is an official selection of The East Lansing Film Festival, The Method Fest, The Cleveland International Film Festival, The Crossroads Film Festival, and The Florida Film Festival.
Brenda recently graduated from AFI with an MFA in Producing. Her production company, Wild Card Productions, is presently in post production on another short film that is expected to be completed and hit the festival circuit in the summer of 2006. She has several feature scripts and television projects currently in development.
DOMINIQUE MARTINEZ , CINEMATOGRAPHER
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Dominique graduated in 2002 from the University of Miami with a double major in Film Production and Art Photography, along with a minor in Art History. While in Miami, she worked on various film projects that led her to further her passion for cinematography and continue her studies at the American Film Institute. Dominique received the Henry Hathaway Endowed Scholarship in support of her work in cinematography at AFI. She is looking forward to collaborating with her talented team on this visually rich, funny, and touching story.
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SARAH BROSHAR - EDITOR
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After graduating from Northwestern University with honors and several departmental awards for film production and theory, Sarah moved to Japan, where she taught English and traveled. In her first year at AFI, Sarah was nominated for the American Cinema Editors Student Award, and was the 3rd place finalist in the Key Art Awards Student Competition. Sarah also received the AFI Scholarship for editing. This summer Sarah had the opportunity to intern in the editorial department of “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”. Sarah is excited to re-unite with her talented thesis team.
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ALYS THOMPSON, PRODUCTION DESIGNER
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After spending several years studying art history, architecture, and language, and working in Europe as an archaeologist, Alys left academia for Los Angeles. Deciding to apply her background to film design, she quickly found that AFI productions provided a good environment for hard-working individuals to develop necessary skills and relationships for work in the film industry.
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Working on AFI thesis films, Alys designed “DEPENDENCY” then joined Scott Enge to design “GUILT” and “QUEEN OF CACTUS COVE.” Outside of AFI, she has worked on several projects including feature films with designer Constance Jolcuvar and actor/director Andy Dick.
SCOTT ENGE, PRODUCTION DESIGNER
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Scott Enge grew up in Pennsylvania , where until last year he was designing and building houses on Lake Wallenpaupack , near Scranton . He received his degree in architecture from Virginia Tech.
Soon after moving to Los Angeles , he became involved with several AFI thesis projects, culminating in his work on “QUEEN OF CACTUS COVE.” Since then he has worked on three independent features, as Set Decorator, Assistant Art Director, and Art Director. |
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